martlin
Well-Known Member
He looks rather nice and shiny
but regardless of that, he can't put any weight on or he won't fit through that door 
Horses losing condition in the winter
- Thread starter Wagtail
- Start date
but regardless of that, he can't put any weight on or he won't fit through that door 
Baggybreeches
Well-Known Member
He looks rather nice and shiny
Oh but he does fit through that door! That is the feed room, my OH was agenius when planning the stable layout!
And he doesn't need a key he has his own slave who opens the door for him
martlin
Well-Known Member
He does now, but if you keep feeding him such vast quantities of food, he soon won'tOh but he does fit through that door! That is the feed room, my OH was agenius when planning the stable layout!
And he doesn't need a key he has his own slave who opens the door for him
Baggybreeches
Well-Known Member
Shhh nobody else spotted that the blue bucket was empty!
rubysmum
Well-Known Member
obs i havnt been rideing since 1862 or owned 2,00 horses - so prob not really qualifed to post here - but my 21 yr old mare is still alive
- so will throw my thought in.............
any horse i have owned has always lost an element of condition in the winter - less turnout & that pesky thing called work [ mine not theirs] equals far less work = less muscle tone + less fitness - so i suspect that most hobby riders' horses have something similair
my mare who now lives out 24/7 generally drops some weight by the end of winter - but in my obs limited experience - this gives my some weight control slack when the much richer spring grass comes through - the only year this didnt happen [ lush grazing & hay bale feeders in the field] - she was obese within a couple of weeks of the spring growth, giving me a much trickier management issue than a horse coming out of winter a little lean
- so will throw my thought in.............any horse i have owned has always lost an element of condition in the winter - less turnout & that pesky thing called work [ mine not theirs] equals far less work = less muscle tone + less fitness - so i suspect that most hobby riders' horses have something similair
my mare who now lives out 24/7 generally drops some weight by the end of winter - but in my obs limited experience - this gives my some weight control slack when the much richer spring grass comes through - the only year this didnt happen [ lush grazing & hay bale feeders in the field] - she was obese within a couple of weeks of the spring growth, giving me a much trickier management issue than a horse coming out of winter a little lean
Wagtail
Horse servant
Wagtail
Horse servant
After seeing your previous post to Pink Pony and now this one, I have identified you as a troll and you are now on 'ignore', so forgive me if I do not acknowledge any more of your posts.
Wagtail
Horse servant
No, I thought she was describing her winter regime. Now I find out that she is talking about her current regime where her horse (who she feeds 18lbs of haylage a day to) is out on pasture. She actually is feeding more than I am during this time which makes absolute sense considering her horse is both larger than mine and in harder work.
In a nutshell, BB was describing her current (summer feeding) and I was talking about my winter feeding (as this was what my post was about -winter). Hence the confusion.
Wagtail
Horse servant
some kind of record i feel...its taken 11 pages this time for the OP to start backtracking/twisting to confuse the issue, just incase someone cottons on to the fact that actually, she has no idea whatsoever what she is talking about..usually she changes tack long before now..
*yawn* you can do better than that Baked, I know you can
Wagtail
Horse servant
Excuses...shoestring...
Holly Hocks
Well-Known Member
I've two thoughts here.
My elderly TB gelding went into winter looking fine - a bit chubby. I kept him fed through winter - he had turnout, ad lib haylage and two feeds a day. He looked better through winter than he has ever looked. But in hindsight I wish I hadn't fed him quite so well. He went into Spring looking too well and is now rather obese...so this winter I will be letting him lose a bit as I don't think it's good for him to be as fat as he is right now..
My elderly TB gelding went into winter looking fine - a bit chubby. I kept him fed through winter - he had turnout, ad lib haylage and two feeds a day. He looked better through winter than he has ever looked. But in hindsight I wish I hadn't fed him quite so well. He went into Spring looking too well and is now rather obese...so this winter I will be letting him lose a bit as I don't think it's good for him to be as fat as he is right now..
Wagtail
Horse servant
Strange how the majority have voted for the third option (as I have) then isn't it? That it is usually down to bad management with a FEW exceptions? I think I have obviously touched a few nerves. I simply offer my opinion as an option. Of course you are free to do what you like, without a conscience if you know you are right. Right? but I think a few people here protest too much.
Baggybreeches
Well-Known Member
I initially described my winter rations because you were talking about winter? I feed more haylage in the summer and my horses are turned out but there is more clay than grass in my field. Horses don't need oodles of lush grass that is what is wrong with the poor ponies that are being kiiled with kindness because of their lovely lush green fields
*hic*
village idiot :D
Wow, I can post what I want and imagine Wagtail with her fingers in her ears chanting "LA LA LA I can't hear you".
Except of course you just had to look to see what I'd posted, didn't you Wagtail.
Oh and whilst you're looking, do check up on the definition of a troll and then work out WHY I posted what I did to the Pink Pony.
Except of course you just had to look to see what I'd posted, didn't you Wagtail.
Oh and whilst you're looking, do check up on the definition of a troll and then work out WHY I posted what I did to the Pink Pony.
Wagtail
Horse servant
Which is why I voted for option 3 - there ARE some exceptions. You obviously have no management issues at all IMO.
Wagtail
Horse servant
Yep, lovely. But BB do you let him drop weight in the winter? He looks fabulous in those photos.
Wagtail
Horse servant
As I said I voted option 3. I accept that there are some exceptions. It seems you are doing all you can to keep him in good condition. It is the people who don't feed enough hay (when it's needed) during the winter that I have issue with.
Wagtail
Horse servant
It's true. It's a juggling act! Trouble is if they get too thin (which I doubt your boy will) their metabolism will get lower. Then they need less food to get fat again. Just like us humans.
Dolcé
Well-Known Member
I know I am right where my horses are concerned! Funnily enough my vet agrees with me, especially regarding the management of laminitis and of course the 'disappearing' sweet itch. You haven't touched a nerve as such, it just annoys me that you preach all your rubbish and then, because someone disagrees with you, try to infer it is about saving money rather than a concious decision. Perhaps the wording of your poll was deliberate to try and get people to 'agree' with your point of view on that, I don't believe I have seen one single post on this thread that actually agrees with the rubbish you are coming out with. When you are spouting your 'CV', I can assure you that mine is as, if not more than, impressive regarding my experience with horses, I have also studied equine nutrition just to ensure I was doing the right thing by my animals. You really are the most narrow minded person, it is one thing to have your opinion but quite another to sit there and type the rubbish you are coming out with as though you know what you are talking about and as if anyone who doesn't agree is obviously neglecting their animals. I don't think anyone protests too much, you should just accept that you don't know it all and that there are better qualified people than yourself to give information on feeding over winter.
Wagtail
Horse servant
Baggy, when have I ever said horses should be on oodles of lush grass? My issue is with people who allow their horses to lose condition over winter to save money. If you do not do that then why the *** are we argueing?
Wagtail
Horse servant
You think maintaining a sleek healthy condition through the winter (and summer) is rubbish?
miss_bird
Well-Known Member
Well wagtail by your assumptions i will be a person that starves my horses to save money
As 2 winters ago i was dumping round bales of haylage out in th fields and getting through 18 bales a week, and along with hard feed, cant say any of the horse came out the winter looking fab but not skinny either and were all in lovely warm H/W rugs (first winter for the horses in this country)
So last winter i cut back on the haylage and hard feed oh yeah and half of them not rugged and a couple in L/W and do you know what they all came out the winter better than the year before.
So yes i cut my bills prob in half and still did not have 20 horses dead from starvation, and last years was a worse winter
As 2 winters ago i was dumping round bales of haylage out in th fields and getting through 18 bales a week, and along with hard feed, cant say any of the horse came out the winter looking fab but not skinny either and were all in lovely warm H/W rugs (first winter for the horses in this country)
So last winter i cut back on the haylage and hard feed oh yeah and half of them not rugged and a couple in L/W and do you know what they all came out the winter better than the year before.
So yes i cut my bills prob in half and still did not have 20 horses dead from starvation, and last years was a worse winter
Dolcé
Well-Known Member
Funnily enough you don't mention feed bills (as in halving your own) until your post 23 and don't mention that being the reason for people allowing their horses to lose weight until your post 33. I think you are changing the goal posts as you go along!
LizzyandToddy
Well-Known Member
I have a horse who hunt's 3 days a week in the winter, only gets a blanket clip, is in for all but 6 hours turnout daily. He has unlimited hayledge out and in, has 3 feeds a day and even still it is a fight to keep the weight on him despite being rugged up to the hilt. So yes I do disagree.
Dolcé
Well-Known Member
I think the duff information that you are spouting is rubbish! You should at least do a bit of research and get some links up here to back up what you are saying, I suspect you would have difficulty finding any!
Maesfen
Extremely Old Nag!
Like button please.
Dolcé
Well-Known Member
Christ, and I thought we had it bad feeding 14! Funnily enough ours came out of this one better too, on the same haylage but forage based hard feed for the horses rather than the cereal based OH insisted on using before we converted him! We also only had the TB and warmbloods rugged for the whole winter too.
YorksG
Over the hill and far awa
So when did this become about saving money? The original (incorrect premise) was that horses should not follow the natural pattern of weight loss which they have evolved, to accomodate the changing calorific content of their natural feed. Having recently had some quite in depth conversations with vet and farrier about feeding, the increasing incidence of lamminitis in winter etc, I am very concerned that someone is setting themselves up as an expert and then posting absolute rubbish. The suggestion that the metabolism of the horse is the same as that of a human, is very concerning. The digestive systems of the two animals are not the same, one being a herbivore and the other being an omnivore, something which the OP went on at length about in a different thread.
Dolcé
Well-Known Member
I really feel the need to put you right on this as it is the second time you have said it and you obviously don't really understand it! A horse's metabolism slows down naturally in cold weather so that it can store fatty tissue under the skin to keep it warm rather than slowing because it has lost weight. If a horse is not being fed enough forage to produce enough heat from the hind gut to keep it warm then it will shiver and this will SPEED UP the metabolic rate to create warmth for the horse, causing weight loss! A thin horse will feel the cold more than a fatter one so will have a faster metabolic rate than the fatter one. Stop quoting rubbish!
miss_bird
Well-Known Member
hch i like that, simple, straight to the point and CORRECT rather than a lot of the rubbish that has been put in this thread